


Lips Could Build a Castle

by Jadesymb



Series: Glyphs on the skin, Connections in the heart [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Derek needs to be rescued, First Time, Get Together, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Mates, Soul Bond, Stiles is 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-06-15
Packaged: 2017-12-09 03:00:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/769180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesymb/pseuds/Jadesymb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek struggled to suck in a breath, but it only burned his lungs and seared his chest. He choked, gasping in more of the pestilent air.  He was vaguely aware of unfamiliar hands on his body, wrapping him up, but that seemed distant, unimportant.  Everything was jumbled, and he couldn't put together what had happened.  Derek drew deeply on his anger, and forced his eyes open.  Isaac was writhing and choking on his bed across the room, apparently the breathing problem was not a Derek only affair.  Isaac convulsed, his veins bulging slightly around his neck as his lips started to turn a slight shade of blue.  Derek's eyes began to burn and sting.  He blinked furiously, but his vision was lost to the pain.  Derek was hurt, but Isaac was dying.  Derek’s body would not respond; agony flared on his skin, his eyes, in his lungs.  Uselessly he struggled to overcome the pain, to force his body to fight, but to no avail.  He reached frantically inside himself, sending his soul down the strands pulsing there.  He grabbed the most important one, the one he knew he could trust above all else.  He pulled hard, poured his energy into it, and then darkness overtook him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the same world as [Some Nights I Call it a Draw](http://archiveofourown.org/works/619385/chapters/1117649). I knew writing that fic that there would be more in that verse. I had some requests to write the "get together" fic for Derek and Stiles, and here we are! You do not need to have read the other story for this to make sense, as this story is set earlier. Stiles is 17 for this fic, hence the "Underage" tag.
> 
> This story is complete, chapters will be posted as they are edited. So sorry for the delay!
> 
> As always, much thanks to all my favorite editor, [ArcticMel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcticMel/pseuds/ArcticMel)!

Derek struggled to suck in a breath, but it only burned his lungs and seared his chest. He choked, gasping in more of the pestilent air. He was vaguely aware of unfamiliar hands on his body, wrapping him up, but that seemed distant, unimportant. Everything was jumbled, and he couldn’t put together what had happened. Derek drew deeply on his anger, and forced his eyes open. Isaac was writhing and choking on his bed across the room, apparently the breathing problem was not a Derek only affair. Isaac convulsed, his veins bulging slightly around his neck as his lips started to turn a slight shade of blue. Derek's eyes began to burn and sting. He blinked furiously, but his vision was lost to the pain. Derek was hurt, but Isaac was dying. Derek’s body would not respond; agony flared on his skin, his eyes, in his lungs. Uselessly he struggled to overcome the pain, to force his body to fight, but to no avail. He reached frantically inside himself, sending his soul down the strands pulsing there. He grabbed the most important one, the one he knew he could trust above all else. He pulled hard, poured his energy into it, and then darkness overtook him.

 

*****May 31st, 9PM*****  
Three hours earlier:

“So, what, I miss a pack meeting, I don’t get a room?” Stiles huffed as he looked over the plans. 

“You can have that one.” Derek leaned over Stiles to tap one of the two open guest rooms. His instincts got the better of him, and he found his nose almost touching Stiles’ neck, his lungs filled with the a mix of burnt sugar, cayenne, and comfort that was Stiles. The scent of comfort was getting stronger, and Derek knew the smart thing to do would be to back off. Stiles was seventeen; he didn't know what he wanted out of life and Derek wasn't willing to make that decision for him. 

“You mean the only rooms left are the tiny ones with no bathrooms or sitting rooms attached,” Stiles grumbled. “The house is a freaking nine bedroom with a den, eight bathrooms, six of which are private baths. Hey, what’s this sunken area in the den for? Are you building the house in the 1970s?”

“The sunken area in the den will hold four king size mattresses. Lydia is already trying to figure out if it's better to sew together custom sheets or cover each mattress on its own. And the bath off the den has three toilets and a massive shower with four heads. It’s for full moons and after disagreements.” Derek pushed away errant thoughts of Stiles naked in that shower, restrained himself from nuzzling Stiles, and forced himself to pull back.

“Oh my god!” Stiles was laughing now. “It’s an actual wolf den! For puppy piles and clean up! I love it!” Derek couldn't help but smile in response to Stiles’ mirth. “So can I add another bathroom?”

“Stiles. No. I just got the permit today. If I make changes, I have to resubmit, which will put the house back at least sixty days. Not to mention the already installed septic system can’t take another bathroom.” Derek ignored the flutter in his chest at the idea of having Stiles in the house with them. Honestly he hadn't dared hope that Stiles would even want to move in, because it would mean leaving his father alone. 

“Okay, so who took which room?” Stiles sighed. 

Derek leaned over him once more, but managed to refrain from scenting him again. He tapped the rooms as he showed Stiles where everyone would be.

“So you seem awful sure that Boyd and Erica will stay together, giving them a room together like that.” Stiles sounded puzzled.

“They’ve established a mate bond. They’ll make it work now.” Derek hated how gruff his voice sounded. He hated being short with Stiles, but he also hated explaining all of this. He worried what Stiles would do if he was armed with all the information.

Stiles didn’t seem to notice Derek’s tone. “What about Isaac then? I’m pretty sure the three of them have sex together. Wouldn't a mate bond preclude that?” 

“Being mates doesn’t preclude other lovers. Being mates means they share a bond, they feel what the other feels. They won’t want to hurt one another. As long as they are consensual in their sexual and other life choices, they’ll be happy. They make a good pair.” Derek tried to be reasonable, to share what he knew, but he felt like he was explaining it wrong.

“So is there, like, one magical mate out there? Like a soul-mate thing? Did Erica and Boyd look at each other and just know?” Stiles turned around and Derek forced himself to step away, giving Stiles space.

“No. It’s about compatibility and choice too. That doesn’t mean we don’t have advantages. We can sort of sense who would make a good mate. I don’t know how to explain it.” Derek shrugged and stepped even further away. He could hear Isaac approaching. It made Derek happy to have some of his pack living with him, even if it had been a nightmare to get appointed as Isaac’s foster parent.

“So you’re telling me that you can’t have a mate bond with just anyone, but at the same time, it’s not like there is only one person out there for you?” Stiles moved back into Derek’s space and met Derek’s gaze with his golden eyes. Derek nodded his head slowly, trying to ignore the way Stiles licked his lips, how close those lips were to Derek. 

“Home, finally,” Isaac said as he opened the door to the loft.

“How was Deaton’s?” Derek asked as he turned from Stiles to watch Isaac cross into the kitchen.

“Fine. Animals’ all fed. It’s getting late, so I’m just gonna to grab a drink and head upstairs,” Isaac called as he opened the fridge. He took a bottle out, crossed the open floor of the loft to the spiral stairs, and added an off-hand, “Night all,” on his way up. 

“So.......” Stiles stepped up next to Derek, placed a hand on his shoulder. Derek found himself relaxing back into the simple touch, enjoying the feeling of Stiles' long fingers on his body. “It’s June first tomorrow. The Alphas said they’d be back in June. Should we be worried?”

Derek sighed and turned to face Stiles. “We’re much more stable than we were when they came the first time. I think this time we’ll pass whatever tests and then they’ll move on and leave us alone. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Well, you know you’ve got me, I mean, the pack, and that we’ll support you.” Stiles met Derek’s gaze, held it, and the look in his eyes filled Derek with hope. To see the faith, the trust Stiles placed in him, laid bare like that gave Derek a sense of worth, briefly filling the holes in his torn psyche. He held the gaze too long, and Stiles glanced down at his feet, shifting uncomfortably, before he moved back to the plans. “Hey! You used my idea about the library! Awesome! And it looks like you’ve got extra insulation between the bedrooms? Will that help soundproof?”

“It’s not actually feasible to soundproof against us in a house.” Derek had thought about it, he’d done what he could, because his pack still had issues with just ignoring what else was going on. 

“Huh. I wonder if I could ward a room to make it sound proof? I think I saw some glyphs that might work.” Stiles' eyes had taken on the far away look that meant he was deep in his own thoughts, working on the problem. 

“If you can soundproof something, can you start with our bathroom? I’d kill for some privacy!” Isaac hollered down from the loft. “Also, I’d like to get some sleep tonight?”

“Guess I should head out. See you guys tomorrow!” Stiles turned to leave, adding, “Congrats on the permit!” as he stumbled out the door. Derek just shook his head at him.

It wasn't until later, when Derek was lying in bed, relaxing, that he stopped to think about how much it meant to him that Stiles wanted to move into the pack house. He expected the werewolves to want to move in, and he knew they’d bring their human mates when they did, but Stiles didn’t have that. Stiles loved the pack and was firmly a member. Scott and Stiles were basically brothers, as far as Derek could tell. It was something else that tied them together, that kept Stiles in his life, and Derek couldn't help the feeling of warmth that spread through him at the very thought. 

Settling back onto the bed, Derek slipped into the comfort of his nightly ritual. He reached inside himself, felt the place where he kept his pack bonds locked safely away. The bonds sometimes made him so sad for all the people he had lost, their very existence caused him pain. Other nights, nights when he was warm with the potential future, with the growth of his pack, the bonds brought him satisfaction. Contented tonight, he checked on his pack.

He could hear Isaac sleeping and could sense him, feel his relaxed presence inside his head. Further away, he could sense Boyd and Erica, curled together, also sleeping. They must be at Boyd's house tonight. Boyd's mom was much more understanding about their relationship than Erica's parents were. 

Scott was awake, on the move, somewhere between his home and the Argent's. Derek could reach down his bond with Scott and find Allison, awake and home. 

Jackson was a little further away, and through Jackson, Derek could confirm Lydia was with him. They were awake at Jackson's house, content and happy. Danny was also present at Jackson's, although his stress level was up. He'd taken the bite with little trouble, thankfully, and had been an intelligent addition to the pack. 

It was always hard to get a read on Peter, and the distance didn't help. Even with precision focus, Derek could only tell that Peter was alive and far to the north and east. Peter had promised to be back for the Alpha's mastery review of the pack, of Derek's growth as an Alpha. Peter had texted yesterday to say he was running behind, and wouldn't be back for another week. Derek was unhappy with his uncle, but what else was new.

From there, Derek finally let himself reach down his pack bond and find Stiles. The young man was home, not too far away from the loft. The bond was strong; stronger than Derek had ever had with a human, including his littlest sister. He could feel Stiles preparing for sleep, feel his lazy contentment as he snuggled into his bed. Derek couldn't help but send a soft pulse of warmth, of want, down his bond to Stiles. He swore he felt a pulse back, but he knew it had to be wishful thinking. Humans couldn't feel pack bonds very well, and they certainly couldn't use them. Derek let Stiles' happiness flow through him for a minute, before he slowly closed off his pack bonds, locking them up as much as he could. He'd feel if someone was in trouble, but other than a light awareness, he disconnected himself from them, and then finally allowed himself to drift into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

*****June 1st, 12:05 AM*****  
Stiles woke gasping, choking. He knew something terrible was happening to Derek, that Derek and Isaac couldn't breath, that they needed him. Stiles practically flew out of bed, struggled into his clothes, and ran out the door. He yanked his phone from his pocket and used speed dial as he climbed into his jeep. 

"Come on, Derek, answer the phone. Tell me I'm a paranoid, annoying child, and that you're going back to sleep," Stiles murmured. His heart stuttered as the call went to voicemail. Stiles tried Isaac and swore aloud when Isaac's phone also went to voicemail. Thankfully, the loft apartment wasn't too far from Stiles’, and he pulled into the parking lot in no time. He practically fell out of his jeep onto the ground in his rush, but managed to catch himself, his phone still in his hand. 

All of his instincts sudden screamed again, and he knew he had to get to Isaac, right now. He started running towards the loft, and noticed a suspicious looking van. His instincts warred for a brief second, because he was somehow sure Derek was in the van, but that Isaac needed to come first. He compromised, snapping a quick picture of the license plate of the van as it roared past him, before reaching the doorway of the apartment. The door hung off its hinges and a strange purple cloud hung in the air. Stiles pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose since he had no idea what magic weirdness was in the apartment. He tripped up the spiral staircase and found Isaac breathing shallowly in his bed, lips an unnatural blue. Whatever was in the air, it was not good for werewolves. Stiles ran past Isaac and found Derek's bed empty, the topsheet missing, no signs of a struggle.

"Fuck," Stiles exclaimed. He checked the bathroom as well, just to make sure there wasn't a passed out Alpha somewhere. Empty. He'd known it would be, but it made him heartsick to confirm it. He rushed back to Isaac. The werewolf was pale, fading in front of Stiles. 

"Come on Isaac, buddy, you've got to get up, help me get you up!" Stiles tugged at Isaac, managed to use his adrenaline to his advantage and get Isaac into something resembling a fireman's carry. He hauled Isaac down to the jeep, relieved to find he'd left the driver's side door open. He managed to manhandle the wolf into the driver's seat. Isaac was already breathing a little easier, some of his color returning. Stiles wasn’t about to abandon Isaac, worried that whoever had taken Derek might return for his Beta. 

"Isaac, man, wake up. You're gonna be okay." Stiles was patting at Isaac, trying to double check the wolf for any injuries. A few minutes later, after Stiles was sure that if there had been any physical injury, it had to have healed and not left blood, Isaac's eyes fluttered open.

"Stiles?" Isaac said groggily. He sat up a little, looked around, confusion evident. "What the hell happened?"

"Not sure yet, tell me the last thing you remember." Stiles reached into the jeep, past Isaac, and grabbed a water bottle he kept there, offering it silently to his packmate.

"Trying to go to sleep, you not shutting up, you leaving, sleeping." Isaac paused for a minute, considering, "Then I was having this incredibly painful nightmare where I was both drowning and on fire at the same time. What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Where’s Derek?"

"That's a really good question. I woke up and knew you were in trouble, so I booked it over here. Your apartment is filled with a purple cloud and Derek is missing. You wouldn't wake, and your lips were fucking blue, so I managed to drag your sorry butt down here. We need to find Derek." Stiles' words fell from his mouth in a rush, running together, barely understandable. “Can you stand?” 

“Yes. I’m a fucking werewolf,” Isaac slurred a little, and attempted to get out of the jeep. Stiles barely managed to grab Isaac and keep him from crashing to the ground. 

“That’s no. I’m texting the pack. Stay!” Stiles wrestled Isaac back into the jeep and pulled his phone out again. He sent a text, using the code they’d worked out after the second time someone stole one of the phones to text the pack and lure them into a trap. Then he grabbed his wolfsbane-soaked bat from the back of the jeep and settled in to stand guard by Isaac.


	3. Chapter 3

*****12:40 AM*****  
Stiles was trying to stand still and stay focused, but it was a losing battle. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, fiddling with the bat in his hand, and dying to take off to the north, sure that Derek was that way. It was ridiculous that he was so sure. Just because the van went that way, didn’t mean the van didn’t turn, or even that Derek was in the van. He needed to calm down, to think this through. Running off half cocked wasn’t going to save Derek. It took about ten minutes for Jackson to pull into the parking lot, and by then, Isaac seemed to have shaken off the effects of whatever was done to him. Stiles was pretty sure it was some sort of wolfsbane cloud. 

Jackson climbed out of his car, and Stiles was already moving back towards the loft, speaking softly as he went. “Stay with Isaac, I’ll be right back.” He didn’t bother yelling, werewolf hearing was more than enough to compensate for his volume. 

The smoke seemed to have settled, but everything in the loft was coated with a find purple dust. Stiles pulled his shirt up again, not wanting to risk breathing in whatever was in the dust he stirred up as he moved through the room, double checking everywhere for any type of clues. Danny appeared in the doorway behind him.

“This dust took Isaac out, be careful about breathing it in. I’m assuming there's wolfsbane in it,” Stiles stated as he climbed the stairs again.

“I can’t smell anything anywhere near here over the stench of this dust. Out in the parking lot we can tell that other werewolves, not pack, have been nearby, but the scents are scrambled and unrecognizable. Any sign of Derek?” Danny called back.

“Not yet, I think someone grabbed him and tossed him in a van. I got the plates though.” Stiles sighed as he moved around, seeing nothing that would help him identify who or what took Derek, and where they were going. “Send in Team Human, tell them not to breathe in this stuff. Keep the wolves out.” After a moment's deliberation, Stiles grabbed Derek’s laptop off the desk and started back down the stairs, his priority running down the van and finding Derek, not preserving the scene.

“I tried not to touch anything, but I don’t think there's much here in the way of clues. We need to gather up some samples of this dust. We might be able to use it later,” Stiles commented, brushing past Lydia as she entered the apartment, wearing a surgical mask. God only knew why she had one at hand. 

“I’ll get some samples back to my place, see if I can’t figure out what’s in it. You know the timing is pretty suspicious though. It’s just after midnight, on the first day of June,” Lydia called after Stiles as he returned to the rest of the pack. 

It looked like everyone had arrived while he was inside. Allison was in the process of putting on gloves and a surgical mask of her own, so maybe the two women could glean some information from the apartment. The rest of the pack was talking to Isaac and sniffing around. 

Stiles went straight to his jeep, where he grabbed a dirty shirt from the back. He wiped down the laptop, thankful that it had been left closed. Then he sat down and turned it on. Danny soon joined Stiles on the laptop. Between the stolen passwords that Stiles had from his dad and Danny’s hacking, they soon figured out what rental agency the van had been rented from, and when it had been rented. 

Danny took the laptop from Stiles, “I’ll have the driver’s license of whoever rented the van in a second. What’s the plan?”

Stiles sighed and stood, surveying the pack. Time to figure this thing out. He let out a sharp whistle, and everyone’s eyes snapped to him. “Gather round pups, let’s figure out what we’re doing. Jackson, get the rest of Team Human for me? And don’t go into the loft.” Stiles spoke quietly; wolf hearing had its advantages. 

Jackson loped off.

“Got it,” Danny said, standing, “And it’s the Alphas.” He turned the laptop screen to Stiles. The driver’s license name and address was unfamiliar, but the pictured driver was unmistakably Deucalion.

“Well, the good news is that this is probably some sort of test, and they probably won’t kill Derek just for fun,” Scott added. 

Stiles nodded, his mind going a thousand places at once. 

“Okay, so how did Stiles know to be here?” Lydia asked as she approached.

“My spider sense was tingling.” Stiles shrugged, “Woke up, knew something was wrong, no one answered their phones, so I came over here. Was pretty sure that someone was escaping with Derek in the van, but that he was okay. Isaac, he was the priority. I’m not sure how or why though. Is that something the Alphas could have done?” 

“Maybe something a good Alpha could do with a packmate, alert other members of trouble. I know it’s possible, because it’s in some of the hunter training, but it’s not something I’ve seen Derek do,” Allison added as she took off her gloves and mask. 

“You mean using the pack bonds Peter has been putting pressure on Derek to work on? And then Derek looks annoyed and ignores? I assume no one can track Derek by smell, what with the Alphas tossing him into that Lucille look alike.” Stiles looked to the wolves. 

“We can tell he’s alive. We’d know if he died,” Isaac said unhelpfully. 

“No direction? No sense of foreboding? Pain? Panic? Nothing at all?” 

All of the werewolves were shaking their heads. 

“Well, fuck. Anyone got anything useful or new to add?” 

“I’ve got four samples of the residue.” Lydia gestured with some small bottles in her hand. “Was it in the air? What did it look like?” 

“Like a mist, it was suspended in the air. I was surprised it settled so quickly. Anything else?” 

At the silence, Stiles took a deep breath. Time to get everyone moving then. “Everyone, wipe your cell phones of anything incriminating. We’re splitting into three groups of three. Text codes due every hour, on the hour. Jackson, take Lydia and Danny to someplace where they can work. Lydia, see what you can find out about the powder, how we can gather it and use it against the Alphas, if needed. Danny, see if you can figure out where the Alphas are staying. Try traffic cameras, hotels, whatever, see if there is any trace of where they went.” 

Jackson nodded, so Stiles continued, “Allison and Scott, you guys take-,” Stiles faltered for a second, but decided Boyd was more likely to be able to work with the hunters peacefully than Erica, “Boyd. The three of you head back to Chris, see what he knows about this powder, warn him the Alphas are in town. Maybe the hunters already have a lead. Be careful, don’t put our Alpha in danger.” Allison rolled her eyes at him, and Stiles knew that she’d protect Derek. She was pack, not hunter, now. “On the way there, Scott, call Deaton. Update him and tell him that Isaac, Erica and I are headed to the clinic. I may need some of his supplies, and I’d like him to check out Isaac, make sure there are no lingering effects. Isaac can let us in if we beat him there. Are we good? Any questions?” Stiles looked over the pack one more time, but everyone was nodding at him. “Good. Go forth my minions!"

“Isaac, are you up to calling Peter? He likes you best.” Stiles smiled brightly. 

“Ugh. Fine. Someone better get my phone and keys from the house though. And does anyone have some clothes I can borrow? I’d rather not show up for work in sleep pants,” Isaac complained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be posting a chapter a day until complete. :)


	4. Chapter 4

*****1:00 AM*****  
“Put him on speaker then,” Stiles practically growled as he shifted the jeep into fourth. Isaac fiddled with the phone for a minute before holding it closer to Stiles.

“You know I can hear you just fine without it being on speaker.” Peter’s voice was staticy.

“That’s fine, but then I miss out on your dulcet tones. So, can you use the pack bonds to locate your nephew who is also your Alpha? And why are you not back? You told us you’d be back before the Alphas got here.” Stiles kept his eyes on the road.

“I can tell you he’s alive. We aren’t exactly close. I told Derek yesterday that I was held up and he said it was fine. Although now I am wondering if my delay was orchestrated by others. It sounds like you've got the best connection to Derek. It really is too bad you didn’t take the bite when it was offered,” Peter snarked at Stiles from more than a thousand miles away.

“You still getting all the pack texts?” Stiles waited until Peter hummed an affirmative before continuing. “Good. Keep track of where everyone is, help Danny and Lydia as needed. If you’ve got any other bright ideas, now is the time to share with the class.”

“I can book a flight back, but it would put me out of contact for a few hours. I think the fastest I could return would be about fifteen hours from now,” Peter replied.

“Stay where you are for now. Any idea what type of test this is? What do the Alphas want?” 

“I suspect they want you to show up and claim your Alpha. If you don’t turn up in whatever they have decided is the allotted time, then one assumes he’s a bad Alpha who doesn’t deserve to have a pack.” Peter’s voice was flat, giving away nothing.

“So how long do we have?” Erica questioned from the back seat.

“At a guess? At least ten hours, no more than forty-eight. Are you sure you don’t want me to start heading back now?”

“No. We’ve got to assume ten hours then, so by the time you got here, it would most likely be too late. It’s already been over an hour since they took him. We’ll call you if we need you. You keep track of the texts, follow up as needed.” Stiles gestured at Isaac, who just looked confused. Stiles made the gesture again, before swinging the jeep into a parking spot. A second later, Peter hung up on his own.

“So you don’t know the universal gesture for hang up the phone?” Stiles’ voice was laced with sarcasm as they tumbled out of the Jeep. 

Deaton stood in the office and held the door open for them. “You know that I am very limited in what I can do tonight.” Deaton’s voice was serene, but his eyes held worry. 

“Yeah, we know. Can you check out Isaac? Make sure there is no lasting effects? We've got a sample of what they used,” Stiles sighed. 

Erica pulled the glass vial from her pocket and handed it over to the vet as they stepped into the office. Deaton held it up to the light, then opened the lid and sniffed. The man was such a frustrating enigma that it drove Stiles mad. He wasn’t sure if the vet was part of some sort of coven or the illuminati, or maybe a freaking wedge of wizards. All he knew was that Deaton had to follow certain rules, and that there would apparently be dire consequences if he didn’t. Deaton had offered Stiles a chance to become Deaton’s apprentice, but had also made it clear that Stiles couldn’t be both an apprentice whatever-the-hell-Deaton-was, and a member of a wolf pack. Stiles wasn’t willing to give up his pack. 

Stiles rubbed at his face in frustration, and glanced at Deaton. Then his eyes narrowed. In the middle of the night, Deaton had been awake when the pack had called and managed to beat them all to the clinic, wearing clothing appropriate for a fight, not for sleep. Deaton hadn't pulled a late night because Isaac had taken the time to stop by and feed the few overnight pets they had right now. 

“You knew this was going to happen tonight.” Stiles attempted to keep his voice flat, emotionless. He was pretty sure that some blame leaked in anyway. 

“We all knew that the Alphas would be back this month.” Deaton kept his voice neutral, giving nothing away. “I suspect Isaac will be fine, perhaps a little slower with slightly duller sense for the next few hours. Any idea how long he was exposed?”

“I’m fine. I don’t think it was that long,” Isaac grumbled.

“I arrived as the Alphas were leaving, so I’m assuming he was exposed for however long it took them to grab Derek and go.” Stiles was thoughtful, if Deaton knew the Alpha’s were coming, if he had some idea what action they might take, his quasi-mentor may have tried to prepare Stiles in advance. Last week when he’d spent his hour with Deaton, they’d talked about werewolf pack bonds. Then he had Stiles meditate on them, to try and use them to feel his pack. Humans in wolf packs don’t normally feel much, most aren't aware of the bond. Deaton seemed to think that Stiles was different. 

“You were very lucky Stiles was able to arrive quickly. Long exposure can have permanent side effects, and even cause death. Isaac, why don’t you come with me and we’ll do a quick check to make sure you are okay.” The vet looked purposefully at Stiles. “You two should wait in the back.” 

“Yes! Of course. Take your time with Isaac.” Stiles smiled nervously, “We’ll just be over here, waiting... Not touching anything.” Asking Deaton for permission might force Deaton to say no, because of his mysterious reasons or weird treaties or whatever it was that was making the man so cagey. Better to just use his toys and borrow his books; Stiles could always apologize later. 

“So what’s the plan?” Erica questioned as she followed Stiles into Deaton’s private back office. “You going to do some sort of locator spell?”

“That sounds like a great place to start, help me get what we need.” Stiles rolled up his sleeves. Time to get to work.


	5. Chapter 5

*****4:30AM*****  
Three hours, four failed locator spells, and a crap-load of research later, Stiles had the pack meet up at Scott’s house to compare notes. 

His group arrived first, and Stiles set himself up at the kitchen table, surrounded by books, his laptop open with his notes in it. Isaac got the coffee maker going and Erica stood guard by the front door. 

Team Allison arrived next, weighed down with the fruits from an early morning Taco Bell run. Stiles, who had been in a state of zenned-out hyperfocus, found he was suddenly starving. Isaac served him up cup of black coffee and Allison passed out tacos. Stiles was so fucking grateful that someone else had been aware enough to provide for the pack. 

By the time the food was demolished, Team Lydia had arrived with five laptops in tow. They got themselves settled at the kitchen counter; Jackson plugging in laptop cords while Lydia and Danny worked away at them, barely slowing for coffee and tacos. 

“Isaac, call Peter, put him on speaker. Let’s see what we’ve got.” Stiles wiped at his mouth, “Team Hunter, go first.”

“Dad didn’t know much of anything, but he let us hit the books and raid the armory. We weren’t able to turn up anything we didn’t already know about the Alpha pack. None of the regular spooky places seem to be in use, so they aren’t using an old hang out. Nothing in the hunter grapevine about this either. Dad had never seen the powder, and I didn’t want to let him play with it. We’re pretty much a bust other than the weapons and the food," Allison sighed. 

Stiles glanced at Scott, who nodded. 

“We spent an hour in the basement,” Boyd rumbled unhappily, and Stiles shuddered. He still had nightmares about that basement. Erica stepped into Boyd’s space, and wrapped her arms around him.

“Sorry, man,” Stiles empathized. “Team Science and Modern Tech?”

“Got one shot of the van heading north, away from the apartment. Nothing else on the van. Unless you can get your dad to issue a BOLO, that’s a dead end for now. The van is a three day rental, but it can be returned to any of the locations, so that’s not a great help. No known aliases or anything like that has been used to rent a space or buy a place in Beacon Hills recently. They could be using a name we don’t have, or staying with a contact we don’t know, or they might have left town,” Jackson reported, as Danny nodded.

“I’m still checking cameras and some other avenues, but I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel here for leads,” Danny added from his laptops. 

“The powder was mostly wolfsbane. They had to have a human accomplice to handle it. I’m assuming someone with some spark or magical talent to keep it suspended the way you described it. I can make more powder; it’s similar to what Peter had me use on Derek, although this one seems much more potent.” Lydia glared at the phone in Isaac’s hand as she spoke. 

“We tried four locator spells, but none of them worked,” Erica added from where she was wrapped around Boyd.

“That second one failed because I fucked it up. That last one should have worked though. I suspect Lyd is right about the magic user,” Stiles volunteered. He was doing his best to keep the worry about Derek at bay, but he’d almost had a panic attack in the middle of the second spell. “Anything to add, Peter?” 

A tinny reply came from the speakerphone, “Just that the clock is ticking.” 

“Oh really? You think?” Erica dripped with sarcasm. 

“Okay. So mostly a bust on all the usual fronts. I’m running on a couple of theories and a grabbing at a few straws, but I think this test has to do with pack bonds.” Stiles looked around at his pack and asked, “Who is Derek’s second?” 

Blank stares greeted him. 

A low chuckle came from the speaker phone. “As always, Stiles, right on the money. My research here agrees with your conclusion. If the pack is stable, the second should be able to track Derek down using pack bonds. I could always find my Alpha, until my nephew became my Alpha. Derek doesn’t have a clear second. I think he’d chose either Erica or Scott, but the traditional duties of second have been split among three pack members from early on,” Peter added, once he was done laughing at them. 

“Three? Who else? Boyd?” Stiles questioned. He knew that Erica was being groomed, as well Scott, to be Derek’s second in command. He wasn’t aware of anyone else picking up any extra duties.

“You, moron.” Erica let go of Boyd long enough to thwack Stiles gently on the back of the head, “You’re the one who organizes us and gets crap done.”

Stiles’ mouth dropped open in surprise. He spent a few seconds looking back at his place in the pack before finally saying, “Fuck me. I’m not a werewolf, how did I end up being the closest thing this pack has to a second?”

“The fact that you are not a werewolf is part of why we don’t have a clear chain of command, and probably what prompted the Alpha’s to choose this particular challenge for our pack,” Peter added smugly.

“This can be figured out later. What we need now is a plan to get our Alpha back,” Scott pointed out. 

“Right. So my plan was to walk whoever was Derek’s second through some meditation exercises I happened to do with Deaton last week that were designed to help open the mind to the pack bonds. So I guess Scott, Erica, and I should go try that. The rest of you, keep hitting the research.” Stiles held up a book, “This one is the best one I’ve found for pack bonds, start there.” 

Erica and Scott rose and followed Stiles into the backyard.


	6. Chapter 6

*****6:00 AM*****

“This is a waste of time. I can’t sense anything,” Scott complained.

“I can tell you Derek is alive. I have no idea where. Also, I can tell you that Boyd is in the kitchen and that he’s hungry and frustrated,” Erica added helpfully.

“Can you really tell where he is? Can you communicate with him?” Stiles prodded from his spot against a tree. 

Erica closed her eyes, and a few seconds later, Boyd stuck his head out the back door.

“Did you need me?” Boyd looked at Erica, eyebrows raised.

“Tell me why you came out here?” Stiles spoke before Erica could open her mouth.

“Because Erica wanted me to,” Boyd responded, without hesitation.

“And you knew that how?” Stiles probed.

“Because I can feel her.” Boyd’s voice was flat, but his face spoke volumes. He obviously thought Stiles was being dumb. 

“So our pack bonds are crap, but your mate bond is awesome,” Stiles snarked.

“Wait. How did you know that?” Erica questioned, her voice rising. “You aren’t supposed to tell people about that.”

“What?” Stiles was very confused.

“Mate bonds. They’re private. We didn’t tell anyone.” Erica emphasized the last word.

“Derek knew,” Stiles pointed out.

“That’s because Derek told us how,” Boyd explained. “About half of it happened on it’s own, but the last half takes work.”

Stiles ran his hands over his face, tiredness creeping up on him. “Scott, can you feel Allison? I mean, I don’t even know if you two have a bond or whatever. I’m just trying to get a baseline.”

Scott scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know. Alison and I’ve never talked about it or anything. Like, I can always hear her heartbeat, even when I’m so far away it shouldn’t be possible. Derek said that can be the start of a mate bond.”

“And you can tell what direction she is by the sound? How far away?” Stiles wished he’d brought his laptop with his notes out with him.

“Sorta, yeah. I can follow the sound till I catch her scent, and pinpoint her between the two.”

“Can you get her to come out here?” 

“Dude, I have no idea,” Scott replied, but he closed his eyes and minutes ticked by. 

Boyd got bored and turned to head inside. “Want me to start breakfast?” he called from the door.

“Yeah. We’re gonna have to eat one more time. And more caffeine. By Peter’s worst case guidelines, we’ve only got about four hours left to figure this out, and I still don’t have a plan.” Stiles felt bile rising in the back of his throat, panic rising. Derek needed them. They couldn’t let him down. The Alpha’s might be hurting him right now, but in a few hours, they could kill him. “Fuck.” 

“Hey, calm down.” Erica’s hand was warm on his arm. “We’ll figure this out. Let’s go back inside, see what team research has come up with. If we haven’t gotten this to work after over an hour of trying, it’s time to come up with a new tactic.” 

Stiles let Erica help him to his feet and lead him back inside. Isaac met them at the door and handed them each a cup of coffee, and Lydia gestured Stiles over to her spot at the kitchen table.

“I’ve got information on pack bonds, mate bonds, and power bonds.” Lydia dove right into her summary. “Power bonds require consent and biting, so they aren’t going to work. Pack bonds are formed, there are ways to use them and strengthen them over time, but we don’t have that. The third option is attempting to establish a mate bond. But that would require someone in the pack to actually want to be Derek’s mate.”

“We can establish a mate bond without Derek being physically here?” Erica questioned. 

Stiles read the paragraph Lydia was tapping, “Apparently, if another pack member is in love with Derek and physically attracted to him, and Derek receptive to that, then it is possible, using the already existing pack bond along with the proper herbs and ceremony.” Stiles’ voice held hope.

“Not it!” Danny said from his computer bank. This was followed by a chorus of the pack all repeating after Danny as hastily as possible. 

“Come on, his life is on the line! Surely one of you is nursing a crush on Derek that we can use,” Stiles whined. 

Everyone turned and stared expectantly at him. Stiles felt a blush creep up his face. 

When he started hanging out with the group, Stiles had been obsessed with Lydia, but his obsession hadn't been healthy. He could see that now, in the face of the what he felt for Derek. He was pretty sure that everyone knew about his crush on Derek. Stiles had tried to be much more circumspect in his affections, but werewolves, they can smell it on you or something. The problem was that, while Stiles knew it started as a crush, it had sort of evolved over the year they’ve been running as a pack. 

Stiles remembered how it was just a few months ago, over spring break, when he’d finally given up and admitted to himself that what he felt was so much more than lust, more than a crush. The pack had gone camping all of the wolves together. Lydia’s parents had insisted she go back east to visit colleges and spend time with family back there. Allison had been whisked off to some sort of hunter training session at the insistence of her father. She’d gone, because she was always trying to balance her father with the pack, and it was such a delicate dance. 

Stiles had gone, lone human, armed with Mountain Ash, because Danny’s first full moon was going to happen on this camping trip. Derek thought they could contain him without too much stress, but just in case, Stiles was there to lock him up. The whole trip had included the pack sleeping together in a large tent, waking up and having breakfast together, hiking, and living in each others back pockets for eight days. Eight days of waking up next to Derek, because somehow he’d always ended up next to Derek. Eight days of cooking with him, of sitting next to him and watching the stars and going hiking with him. At the end of eight days, he realized how his life was so much richer, so much more fulfilling with Derek in it. The idea of a life with Derek in it, living with him, loving him, was so bright it hurt. Stiles loved Derek in a way he hadn’t even known was possible, and that was why he’d never made a move, never voiced it out loud. The very thought of a life void of Derek made his heart actually hurt. He knew Derek would think he was too young. He didn’t want to risk what he had now with Derek, an easy friendship filled with happy smiles and light touches. He hoped maybe one day, maybe after high school was over, things might change. 

“No,” Stiles began in a rush, “Derek has to be at least a little into the person attempting this. It says so right here. Physical attraction is part of the spell.” 

The pack stayed silent, eight pairs of eyes boring holes into him. 

“Come on, we don’t even know if Derek’s into dudes! And he’s not into me.” 

“Stiles, you have the relative IQ of a deck chair,” Jackson finally said into the silence.

“Look, Stiles, honey, you are going to try this spell, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll move on to the next thing.” Lydia placed a hand gently on Stiles’ head. 

“So I’m going to bind him to me for the rest of his life because we can’t come up with a better plan?” Stiles dropped his head onto the table.

“It’s just starting to establish a mate bond. It should be enough to track him down. To complete the mate bond, you’d have to have sex under the full moon. So, just skip that part, and the bond breaks.” 

Lydia attempted to shove a book under Stiles head so he could read for himself, but Stiles just pushed it away. The pack was eerily silent around him as he briefly regretted how all of his life choices had brought him here.


	7. Chapter 7

*****7:30AM*****

Stiles fervently wished that his life worked in such a way that did not require him to be sitting in a circle in the middle of a forest in his boxers. Especially before the morning chill had burned off, and preferably without his entire pack hanging around. He rubbed his arms again, and looked longingly at his clothes.

“Isaac, are you ready? Have you got the glyphs down?" Stiles asked. The pack had decided Isaac would be the one to help Stiles since he lived with Derek, was one of the better artists, and Derek’s first successful bite. "I know it looks easy, but the hardest part is actually in the applying it. Use two fingers and go slow. The paste is thick enough it shouldn’t drip, and I just realized it’s going to be cold, and you’re going to put it on my already cold skin, and I’m deeply regretting agreeing to do this.” Stiles paused for only a second to breathe, but Lydia took advantage of his pause.

“Relax, Stiles, you’re babbling. We’ve got this. Everyone is going to pull back now but Isaac. He’ll place the glyph and stay to observe. You can do this. Open the connection to Derek and figure out where he is. We’ve got about two and half hours left before we have to worry that we’ve failed.” She made a shooing gesture at the rest of the pack, “Everyone, let's go, Stiles still thinks he should have modesty.” 

Stiles waited until the pack had melted into the trees before standing. With a put upon sigh, he striped out of his boxers and forced himself to run through his old anti-panic-attack breathing routine. “Alright Isaac, just smear the glyphs across me, say the little phrase Lydia taught you, and then back out of the circle so I can work my mojo,” Stiles added a strained smile to the end of his instructions.

“Stiles,” Isaac waited for Stiles to look up and meet his eyes, “Thank you, for doing this. I think you’re the only one who can, and I know it’s making you nervous, but I really think this will be okay. I have faith in you.”

“Um, thanks, man. I’m not sure what this is going to look like from the outside. Don’t interrupt me unless it’s life or death. Breaking the spell in the middle could be bad for me, or bad for Derek. I didn’t have time to go full research on this spell or put any major safety nets in place.” Stiles took a deep breath, and then sat seiza-style, naked, in the center of the circle. “No more talking. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Stiles hated meditating. Even after a year of working with Deaton, he had been unable to achieve any type of blankness. What he could do was hyperfocus; take one thing and run with that one thing for a while. He was aware of Isaac, mumbling softly the proper words, and he could feel the cold touch of the belief-infused magic herb paste. Stiles was distracted for a moment by the squick factor of having a mixture that contained Isaac’s blood being smeared across him, but he forced himself past it. He’d been elbow deep in werewolf blood many times after a fight, this was less blood for a good cause. 

Stiles could feel the energy radiating off of the glyph on his chest, feel it warming to his skin, the vibration being slowly absorbed into him. He focused on it, pulled it inside, and then centered himself. He found his pack bond, his bond to Derek, deep inside of him. It felt like it came from the center of his chest somehow. He visualized his bond as a metaphorical string, frustratingly non-corporeal to his inner self, connecting him to Derek. He’d done this before, done this for an hour this morning, but every time he touched the string, tugged it, tried to use it for anything, nothing happened. Stiles tried again to take the new energy humming through him, but to no avail.

Time to roll up his metaphorical sleeves then.

Stiles knew he had to build a mate bond, that his pack bond was nothing but a guide to help him find Derek. It was the light leading the way, but he needed to weave a connection between them. He reached into himself, into his feelings and his friendship for Derek. He needed a strong foundation to start with. Stiles was alone in the safety of his own head, so he took out his secret love of Derek, the base emotion of the way he felt around Derek, and started to weave. He added in his physical response, the attraction Derek’s sexy body always left him feeling, weaving into the emotion of love. The next strand to join was the feeling of safety that Derek always left him with. He kept going, drawing on his emotions, reactions, and thinking of all the things that made Derek, weaving them together, in and around the pack bond. As the bond grew, he felt himself following along it, moving along it like a rope bridge, moving ever closer to Derek.

Stiles had no sense of time. He was hyper focused on all the things Derek made him feel, all the things about Derek that made him Derek. Stiles drew on his feelings of hope, trust, safety, lust, and even the petrichor musk of Derek, and channeled them into the mate bond. He noticed the pack bond was getting thicker, becoming a tangible thing he could weave into his mate bond, the closer he got to Derek. 

Stiles knew he was close, metaphysically, to Derek’s metaphysical form, so he wasn't surprised when he suddenly found himself in front of the burnt out shell of the Hale house. The house had been torn down months ago, it didn't look anything like this anymore. Stiles wasn’t sure it ever looked this bad, even when it was standing. 

“Derek?” Stiles called hesitantly. There was no response, but the string that connected him to Derek disappeared into the house. The ground looked solid, but Stiles kept right on building his mate bond, his bridge, all the way into the house. The front door hung open, crooked on its hinges. Derek lay on a rug just beyond the doorway, his body curled in on itself.

“Derek!” Stiles wanted to rush to Derek, but he was afraid of what would happen if he stepped away from the mate bond. He just kept building it until he could finally reach out his hand and touch Derek’s shoulder. The older man groaned and rolled toward Stiles, his eyes blinking open.

“Stiles? Where are we?” Derek struggled to sit up, and Stiles managed to help get him righted. Derek hunched forward, pain evident on his face.

“That's the question. The Alphas took you. We need to find out where you are. We’re not here physically, this is a spell I did so I can talk to you.” Stiles realized his mistake as soon as he voiced the words. His belief in the spell hadn’t been just about contacting Derek, it had been about forming the mate bond. His words brought discord to his belief, and he felt a strong tug, pulling him back. Derek’s hand shot out, grasping at Stiles, holding his arm. Suddenly, Stiles felt a rush of embarrassment at the realization that he was naked in front of Derek. Derek was wearing boxers, but Stiles was naked.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to hold this very long. Where are you?” Stiles asked urgently.

“I don’t know, underground. In pain. I don’t know Stiles. It’s all a confused jumble.” Derek’s hand tightened around Stiles' arm.

“Okay. It’s okay. I’ve got a plan B. Don’t panic. You've got to accept something from me and then I’ll be able to track you. Can you do that for me Derek? It doesn’t have to be forever, just until the full moon. We’ll figure it out after I find you.” Stiles felt the pull behind him grow, and he knew he was almost out of time. 

“What are you talking about?” Derek reached out with his other hand and pulled Stiles in closer, one hand on each of his arms.

Stiles took everything he’d put into the bridge, all the bright emotion, all the feelings of trust, of love, of respect and the lust and the concern, and gathered them in his hands. He held it out towards Derek. “Take it. Before I get sucked back to my body.”

“A heart?” Derek looked down at Stiles' hands, and Stiles followed his glance. God, he was going to kill his subconscious one day. He’d thought he’d see a glowing ball or something cooler, and instead it looked like was holding out a crappy, handmade valentine card. It was made out of red construction paper, Stiles' own handwriting scrawled messily all over the front of it. He raised his head, and Derek followed the motion, their eyes meet and held for a few seconds, suspended, unmoving. And then a look of understanding crossed over Derek, followed quickly by one of horror.

“Stiles! You can’t form a mate bond with me. What the hell are you thinking!” Derek was practically yelling in Stiles face. 

“I’m thinking of saving you! Come on, I need you to take this. Then I can find you before the Alphas kill you. Don’t be stupid.” Stiles thrust the valentine at Derek again.

“You don’t know what this means. You don’t understand what happens if I take this.” Derek’s voice was desperate now, strained.

“I don’t care. All I care about is you. Take this. I can’t hold it much longer.” Stiles heard the panic rising in his voice and he felt his feet slipping out from under him. The only reason he was here and not snapped back into his body was Derek’s strong hands, wrapped so securely around Stiles’ arms. Hands that were turning into claws, digging into his flesh, tearing at his arms as he began slipping out of his grasp. “Please. Derek, please, do this for me. Just take it!”

Derek’s eyes flash red, and he looked deeply into Stiles, like he could see down the bridge and into the center of Stiles. Derek finally nodded, and then he just, let go. 

Stiles felt rising panic, thinking for a split second that all was lost, that Derek’s own stubbornness was going to be the death of him, but Derek moved lighting quick, and grabbed the valentine from Stiles’ hands. Stiles barely registered the motion as anything but relief, and suddenly Stiles was falling backwards at an alarming rate. He braced for impact....

And opened his eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

*****8:15AM*****

The sky was vibrant blue and so bright that it stung his eyes. Stiles just blinked for a moment. Sudden warmth blossomed in his chest, and he felt deeply better, like it was relieving him of pain that he'd had so long, he'd stopped paying attention to it. It was like his entire life he’d been walking around an incomplete puzzle, and someone had just snapped a piece into place. It didn't complete him, this piece, not wholly, but he felt like he was on his way, as if the gaping hole was slowly filling.

“Stiles?” Isaac whispered from where he was pacing just outside the circle. 

It was then Stiles realized he was lying on his back, legs bent uncomfortably beneath him. “Help me up?” he asked as he struggled to stand.

“You were like, perfectly still for almost an hour, it was totally freaky. Did it work?” Isaac pulled Stiles to his feet, supporting him when he stumbled. 

Stiles turned his attention away from his body, and felt a warm pulse deep in his chest. “Yeah. It did.” 

Stiles pointed north. “He’s that way. Someone else will need to drive. This might turn into a game of hot and cold, depending on the roads. He’s not close. I need clothes, and then let’s load up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter today, more tomorrow!


	9. Chapter 9

*****9:30AM*****

They took Allison’s new pretty yellow Xterra, which she drove with gusto. Stiles sat in the passenger seat, giving vague instructions while Scott manned the cell phone in the back. Luckily, Danny’s mom owned a minivan, and was okay letting Jackson drive it for some reason. The rest of the pack had piled in. Danny was still working on the laptop, trying to figure out where they might be going, and monitoring some other possible leads. 

“We need to go more that way,” Stiles said around a mouthful of food. He knew he was being snarky. He was so tired, the hour of sleep he got was not enough to carry him through all the magic he had been doing. 

He could feel Derek now.  He knew where Derek was, sort of.  He knew Derek was in a lot of pain, and that his strength was fading.  He was pretty sure he was feeding Derek energy down this mate bond, keep him alive long enough to find them.  Derek must be healing some sort of constant damage, and it was sapping his reserves.  Stiles was much hungrier than he should be.  He wished he had some goo with him.  If Stiles passed out, no one would be able to find Derek, so for now, he wasn't going to try to send anything more down to Derek other than the little bit he had going.   _We’re on our way, hold on, believe that we will be there soon.  I’m coming for you, the pack is coming.  We’re worried about you, we miss you._  And then, since it was all in his head, it was all emotion, he went for broke: _I love you, I need you.  Hold on for me._

Stiles hadn’t actually ever admitted that out loud. He wasn’t sure how Derek felt about him, and given what he’d pieced together from Derek’s past, he suspected that Derek wasn’t really in a place where a relationship was a good idea. Especially a relationship with an underage sheriff's son. Stiles had sort of suspected that Derek might feel something for him. He held hope that maybe, someday, if the stars aligned, they might be able to make a go of some sort of relationship. But Stiles had figured he’d wait the ten months till he turned eighteen before even bringing it up. Maybe even wait until he came back from college for the first time, just so his constant presence wouldn’t make things weird for Derek. Stiles shook his head and refocused; their relationship was problem for after they'd rescued him.

“They just returned the van at the Portland airport.” Danny’s voice was tinny over the phone.

“Shit, are we going all the way to Portland?” Jackson bitched. 

“No. He’s close. We need to turn right off of this highway at the next exit, I think. I guess this means that there won’t be the entire Alpha pack waiting to ambush us.” Stiles tried to sound reassuring.

“No, but it only takes one to deliver the car, so we could still end up with them or the minions waiting,” Erica replied.

“It’s the next exit for sure. We’re almost parallel to him right now.” Stiles closed his eyes and centered himself, felt the bond inside him shifting as they passed by Derek. “We need to turn now. I knew I should have made someone drive the Jeep.” 

“There is an exit in a mile. We’ll take that and back track,” Allison comforted. “How is Derek doing?”

“Honestly? I think that the ten hours Peter first suggested was probably close to right. I’m sending him a little bit of power, and it’s helping him heal. I don’t know how much longer he can take whatever is happening to him,” Stiles replied. He closed his eyes and slipped back into himself, feeling for Derek. 

The next twenty-five minutes involved a lot of Stiles pointing and yelling and Allison looking for roads instead of following along the straight line that would lead them Derek. Finally, Danny spoke up.

“I think I’ve got it. There should be an off road trail up on the right. It leads up to some caves in that cliffside to the northwest of us.” 

“That’s probably the right way then. He’s that way for sure, and I know he’s underground. We’ll leave the van. Lydia and Danny pile in with us, Scott and the rest of the pack can run. Everyone stay where you can see the car.” 

The trail was rough, but Allison knew her Xterra’s capabilities well. Stiles found himself wishing they had brought the jeep, because she would have been awesome on this trail. Allison finally pulled to a stop in front of a cliff wall. Stiles tumbled from the vehicle, moving towards a cave entrance that most of the pack had swarmed around. Peering inside with a flashlight, he could tell that it was a big open room, with four or five small caves shooting off from it.

“He’s here. We can smell him!” Erica exclaimed. 

“I’m pretty sure he’s still about a half mile from here,” Stiles confessed. Allison pushed Stiles' belt with his gun holster and knife at him. He put on the belt and then checked the gun. 

“Teams?” Lydia held up two of the three prepacked emergency supply backpacks. 

“Danny and Lydia are staying out here to guard our way out. I need one more to stay with them. Allison and I on separate teams, to ensure-” Stiles stopped suddenly, the thrum of Derek was so close that he couldn’t focus.   
Placing a reassuring hand on Stiles' shoulder, Erica finished sorting them into teams, while Danny handed out radios, and then they were finally entering the caves. 

“His scent is spread all around here, like they dragged him all over the place before they left him wherever he is,” Erica told Stiles. “We can’t tell what is the freshest.” 

“I’ve done everything I can to the radios to keep them working, but this isn’t Leverage, we might lose signal. If you do, step back to where you last heard signal and check in. Let us know where you are, how far you are and a time frame before checking in again,” Danny instructed as they entered the caves. 

“Okay, if we lose contact with both groups for more than an hour, call Deaton. If he can’t help, call Chris,” Stiles said into his radio. He looked around the cavernous entryway. There were six exits to this room, plus the way outside. “Give me a minute, and then I’ll pick two. The rest of you see if you can narrow it down any.” Stiles reached inside himself feeling down the new connection to Derek. The Alpha was deeper under the earth than they currently were. He was also to the left of their current position. Stiles could tell Derek was getting worse, his body unable to keep up with healing whatever was happening to him. Stiles impulsively fed him an extra dose of energy, before he had time to think of why that might be a bad idea. He came back to himself, and stood too quickly, weak from sending Derek what Derek needs to survive. Erica caught him as he swayed, keeping him upright.

“Dude? You okay?” Scott asked.

“Yeah. Derek is that way.” Stiles grinned as he pointed, “I’m going to guess he’s down one of these two tunnels over here, so Allison, take your team that way. Erica and Boyd, with me.”

Allison held out some chalk. “I’ve got the orange chalk, you take the purple and mark your way as you along. That way even if we humans get lost we can find our way back.” 

“More of a periwinkle than purple. Better dead than Orange Red!!” replied Stiles as he took the Periwinkle chalk. Scott smirked at him as he followed Allison down the tunnel. 

Stiles let Erica lead the way, while Boyd stayed close, helping Stiles over some rocks and occasionally holding the flashlight for Stiles. It took them some time, but they were steadily getting closer to Derek, without any major obstacles. Stiles was just about to comment on how this was too easy, but Erica suddenly froze in front of Stiles.

“There’s a big drop, it’s hard to see till you’re on top of it,” she whispered back to them. 

“The good news is that Derek is still below where we are, so a drop is probably the right way. We’ve got some rope, should we climb it? Jump it? I want to be sure we can get back up too,” Stiles replied.

“Too far to safely jump. Let’s rig up some rope. I think I can see a way to climb down, but it’s not going to be easy.” Erica left off the part where she pointed out how extra difficult this would be for a human in the dark. Her staying silent didn’t make it any easier though. 

They took the rope, and after much deliberation, tied the three of them together, Stiles in the middle. It was mostly to keep Stiles from falling to his death. Which of course he ended up needing when he fell about half way down the rock. The rope pulled tight on the two werewolves, who both sunk their claws into the rocks and flashed their eyes at him as his head impacted the side of the rock wall they were working their way down.

“Fuck. That hurt. Sorry guys. Thanks for the save.” Stiles touched his forehead, and found it wet with blood.

“You okay, Stiles? We smell blood.” Before Stiles had a chance to respond to Erica’s inquiry, they all heard a howl echo down the caves. Derek. They heard Derek’s howl. Relief flooded through Stiles at the sound. 

“I’m fine, Derek. It’s just a flesh wound!” he hollered before he thought of possible consequences. He managed to get back on the wall, and they continued down to the bottom. There were a couple of tunnels leading off from where they found themselves. Stiles took out his chalk and made a large arrow pointing up. It was pretty easy to find Derek from this location, as Boyd and Erica could now hear him. 

“Point me the right way, but I need to be in front. He’s in pain, and I suspect it’s more of the wolfsbane powder like at the apartment. I can’t haul three werewolves around,” Stiles explained as he lead the way. Sure enough, about fifty yards down the tunnel, the air started to shimmer purple in the beam of light from Stiles' flashlight. Stiles paused to fish in his backpack for dust respirator he brought and slip it over his face. He grabbed a second one, and then tossed the bag back at the two wolves.

“You two wait here. Derek is just around this corner.” Stiles forced himself to move slowly as he worked his way over the rough, boulder-strewn cave. He climbed up and over a large rock outcropping, and almost landed on Derek’s prone body. The man was pale, his breath coming in gasps, and he was curled around himself, the lower part of his body still wrapped in his bed sheet. All of his exposed skin was irritated, covered in angry red hives.

“Fuck. Derek.” Stiles fumbled with the other respirator. He reached for Derek, intending to roll him a little and slide the respirator on his Alpha, but as soon as Stiles hand touched Derek’s bare skin, a rush of warmth, and that feeling of another puzzle piece clicking into place, making him closer to whole, coursed through Stiles. He let out a small gasp, distracted momentarily from everything by the emotion. 

“Stiles? Are you okay? Did you find him?” Erica’s voice echoed down to Stiles, snapping him back to the present.

“Yeah! Got him. Don’t come any closer, in fact, one of you climb up to where we’ve got reception and radio in that we’ve found him! We might need help getting him up that wall. We’ll be out in a second,” Stiles called as completed his action of getting Derek some more breathable air. 

“Come on Der, we’ve got to get out of here. Let me help you. Come on, get up. I know you can do it. Boyd and Erica are just around the corner, they can help us in a second, we’ve just got to get out of this wolfsbane cloud.” Stiles kept babbling at Derek as he hoisted the man up. Derek was heavier than Isaac, and this wasn’t a smooth, flat floor or predictable staircase. Derek wasn’t exactly conscience, but he was sort of helping by clinging onto Stiles. 

Stiles managed to half-carry, half-drag the older man across the cave floor, muttering reassurances to Derek as they moved. He noticed the wolfsbane dust was starting to settle, as if somehow him entering the airspace had broken whatever spell had it hovering in the air. A layer of purple dust was quickly building up on both of them, and Derek’s body temperature seemed to jump with the prolonged contact. 

“We’ve got to get the wolfsbane off his skin. There’s some gloves and wipes at the bottom of the bag.” Stiles finally managed to clear the imaginary line and pass Derek off to the waiting wolves. 

“Strip and wipe yourself down too, Stiles. Wolfsbane is absorbed through the skin in regular people too, and it can kill humans,” Erica told him as she helped get her Alpha cleaned up. By the time Stiles had stripped down to his boxers and run wipes all over his exposed skin and hair, Erica and Boyd had finished with Derek. Stiles finally stepped up and put his hand on Derek. He felt a tug on the bond inside him, the bond connecting him to Derek. 

“Derek? You going to wake up now?” As Stiles worked to dress Derek in a pair of basketball shorts, he realized that Derek’s skin was clammy under his hands, and werewolves normally ran hot. “Erica, lay the emergency blanket on the ground. Boyd, help me get him onto it. Then we’re going to have an emergency pack puppy pile to try and get his body temperature up while we wait for the others.” Everyone scrambled around to help. Soon they were skin against skin, Stiles's chest pressed up against Derek’s back, arms around his waist, their legs intertwined. Boyd was nestled up on Derek’s other side, and Erica draped across them. Derek was pale, he looked hollowed out, like he was slowly emptying. Stiles concentrated on their bond, and he could feel Derek letting go. 

“Fuck. Erica? Boyd? Can you guys, with the help of the others, get us out of here when we’re both unconscious?” Stiles asked urgently. He remember what Deaton had said about long term exposure to the dust, and knew he had to make sure Derek came out of this whole.

“Yes?” Erica questioned. 

Boyd spoke right over her, “What the fuck are you planning Stiles.” It wasn’t a question.

“We’re losing him. I think I can save him. Don’t separate us more than necessary, keep us touching if possible.” Stiles then blocked them out, and poured himself, his energy, into Derek. He felt Derek’s pulse spike under his hands, warmth seeping back into Derek. Stiles tucked his head into Derek’s neck, breathing in the soothing scent. Then Stiles took a deep breath and let go, let everything he had stream into Derek, giving Derek all of him. He felt dizzy, faint, and then nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I like to knock people out....   
> I'm on [tumblr](http://jadesymb.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Thank you all for your comments and kudos, they totally make my day :)


	10. Chapter 10

Stiles was aware of the fact that he was somehow safe at home in his own bed. Two seconds later, he remembered that the last thing that happened to him was him passing out while attempting to force Derek to heal.

Panicked, his arms flailed wildly under the sheets. He was alone in the bed. “Where the fuck is Derek?” He didn’t actually mean to voice it. Even as he said it, he was sort of instinctively reaching down the mate bond, finding Derek. 

“Stiles! I’m so glad that you are awake,” Scott said from somewhere in Stiles' bedroom. 

Reassured of the pack's safety by the sound of Scott's voice, Stiles still didn’t bother to open his eyes. Instead he concentrated on locating Derek. Derek, who was definitely at his loft and not here. Stiles was pretty sure Derek was okay, but he would feel better if he could touch Derek to be sure. Instead, he sent a tiny pulse down the mate bond to Derek. Nothing came up the mate bond to him, but a few seconds later, a pulse of white hot energy came down the pack bond. Stiles jolted up in bed, feeling a little like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket.

“Dude! Stop pissing off Derek. He barely calmed down from before!” Scott’s voice rose in confusion. 

Stiles ignored him, feeling the pack bond inside him. Rather than a faint, intangible thing, it felt bright and full. Stiles let his consciousness travel down it to Derek, and from Derek, he could feel the connections to everyone in the pack. Stiles was just beginning to revel in how awesome these new bonds were when his phone chirped at him. He sighed and let go of his connection, then scrambled for his phone.

Derek: Stop that.

“Of course he doesn’t want me to mess with the pack bonds.” Stiles rolled his eyes and flopped back on the bed, finally making eye contact with a bemused Scott.

“You did almost kill yourself this morning. Plus, Derek seems really pissed off at you about the mate bond thing. Something about how he can’t make it a two way thing while you were unconscious, so to feed you energy he had to use the pack bond, except he was too weak to do it, so he had to use all the pack bonds? And now I like, know where he is and stuff. It’s really disconcerting. And I know he’s mad at you. This is the weirdest thing ever.” Scott managed to get all of that out in one very impressive breath. 

“So basically we now have healthy pack bonds? And if we’d had them before, none of this would have happened? And I saved Derek and now he’s mad?” Stiles pointed out. He still felt tingly from whatever Derek had done to him. 

“It’s more than that. Lydia seems to think you’ve pulled a ‘Little Mermaid’ after talking to Derek on the drive home. And not the Disney one, but the original.” Scott replied.

“What? So I’m going to become seafoam?” 

“Well, according to Derek, either you complete the bond by the full moon, or you die. Derek will supposedly be fine either way. I’m not clear on all the details.” Scott put a reassuring hand on Stiles, “It’ll be okay, we’ll figure it out.”

“So, you’re telling me that unless Derek agrees to be mated to me for life in,” Stiles paused to check the calendar on his wall, “one week, I’m going to die. And Derek is going to be fine, other than the mountain of guilt?” 

“He’d be more than fine, apparently he’d absorb your energy or some shit like that and he’d be a stronger Alpha.” 

“Great. So stuck with a stupid teenage boy for life or become a better, more powerful Alpha.” Stiles knew Derek wasn’t going to let him die, but it didn’t seem fair to Derek that those were his choices. “I need to go talk to him,” Stiles added, struggling to get out of bed. 

“No, you need to give him some time to cool down. And whatever Derek is doing with the pack bonds to give you energy, it’s still leaving you tired. I can smell it. You need to cook dinner for your dad, have a nice quiet evening in, sleep, and tomorrow you can go see Derek. I’ll even help with dinner,” Scott said with a helpful smile.

Stiles took a minute to consider before responding. He could feel Derek’s anger radiating up the pack bond, and thought maybe Scott’s idea had some merit. “Can you whip up some of your mom’s Mole Sauce? We’ve got chicken breasts.”


	11. Chapter 11

Stiles always knew where Derek was, but Derek was faster. The Alpha seemed bound and determined to avoid Stiles, and Stiles decided it was easier to roll with the punches. He spent the next few days in full on research mode, mostly working with Lydia and Danny. The more Stiles uncovered about the mate bond he’d started, the worse he felt.

“Lydia, you don’t understand. I know I connected to Derek, like, astrally or something, to get him to consent to the bond, but I really don’t think he was all there when I did it. I mean, it’s like I forced him into this. He was coerced, threatened by death, and didn’t have a real choice. I know he’s not about to let me die, because I’m pack, and if you look up ‘Martyr’ in the dictionary there is a picture of Derek underneath. So it’s more like I’ve forced him into a loveless marriage. I can’t even provide him heirs. I’m a fucking high school student. I bring nothing to this arrangement. Worst. Rescue. Ever.” Stiles banged his head into the desk before continuing, “There has got to be a way to break this that doesn’t end up with me dead. What stupid type of bond is this?!”

“One that really wasn’t meant to be set up by a human?” Lydia replied, “And you need to stop wallowing. We’ve still got a couple of days before the full moon. We may still find something.”

“We’ve pretty much used all of our resources, and nothing has come up that doesn’t result in the death of either myself or Derek. And I’d rather no one point out to Derek that his death would release me from the bond, if you don’t mind.”

“Have you guys talked yet?” Lydia asked.

“He’s avoiding me. He’s sent me a few one or two word texts, mostly just enough to avoid actually talking to me. If I head in his direction, he moves.” Stiles banged his head again, hard enough to actually hurt this time.

“Stop that. Can you tell when he’s sleeping?” Lydia questioned. At Stiles’ nod, she continued, “Good. Go climb into his bed at night. Ideally, do it naked,” she finished with a well timed hair flip.

“Oh My God, Lydia. I’ve practically made us shotgun grooms, I’m not going to rape him too.” Stiles felt a blush rising on his cheeks. 

“Trust me, Stiles, he’s into you. Also, everything I’ve read about sealing the bond, AKA, keeping you alive, requires you two to get naked and exchange some bodily fluids. It’s possible kissing might be enough, but there isn’t a lot of documentation, and Peter has been unhelpful, mostly telling us to talk to Derek.” She paused, “Also, I willing talked to Peter because of you, who I would really rather push into an active volcano. I’m not doing it again. You need to corner Derek before I tie you two up and lock you in a closet somewhere."

“Fine!” Stiles stood abruptly and fished his phone out in order to send a text.

Stiles: Meet me tonight, my place, or Lydia says I have to hunt you down while you sleep.

“Happy? I texted him.” Stiles brandished the phone at Lydia. 

Lydia smiled and whipped out her own phone, and Stiles knew she was also texting Derek. 

“Let me see," he demanded.

“Nope.” Lydia smiled sweetly and dropped her phone back in her purse before turning back to her books. Stiles lightly banged his head a few more times, hoping an idea will shake loose. His phone buzzed at him.

Derek: Fine.

“Oh My God. What did you tell him? He actually agreed!” Stiles was almost giddy with relief for a second, and then the full implications hit him. “Oh Fuck. The dude I tricked into being magically engaged to me is showing up at my house and I have to convince him to werewolf marry me or I’m dead.” He looked desperately at Lydia, “Help?”

Lydia cackled maniacally.


	12. Chapter 12

Stiles had refused to go shopping, to Lydia’s dismay. Lydia had given in and picked out an outfit for Stiles to wear, and Stiles had dutifully put it on. He’d worn it for about two hours, from the time his father had left for the night shift until just after ten, when he had an unfortunate accident with a late night dessert attempt, involving chocolate sauce and his shirt. Derek wasn't moving any closer, so Stiles gave up, and climbed into the shower.

As the hot water pounded down on him, he tried to order his thoughts once more. Derek and Stiles had become friends, maybe even good friends, in the past few months. They had a discussion once, about sexual orientation, wherein Stiles had confessed to being bisexual. Derek had explained that wolves, in general, but especially born wolves, often felt attraction based more on scent. Derek had admitted that gender mattered little to him. The conversation lead to a more in depth talk about scent that had resulted in Stiles throwing away almost every product in his bathroom and dragging Erica out on a shopping trip to replace them with smells less offensive to sensitive wolf noses.

Sudden awareness flooded Stiles. Derek was close. How had he gotten that close without Stiles noticing his approach? Anxiety rushed through him, and he dove out of the shower into a towel. Barely taking the time to dry off, he scurried across the hall into his room. Stiles grabbed random clothes and had just finished struggling into them when he heard Derek open the window.

“I’m never going to get you to use the front door, am I?” Stiles collapsed into his desk chair, happy to have a familiar line of questioning to start this conversation off with. Derek didn’t bite though, he just sort of huffed and dropped onto the end of Stiles’ bed. Derek's eyes were downcast, his face lacking the normal smirk that the front door mocking usually caused. The absence of a comeback was what really hurt. Stiles was suddenly reminded of how Derek had been when he’d first arrived in Beacon Hills, the Derek who was a seething ball of rage. He’d watched Derek let go of the anger and work to become a real person, and a good Alpha over the past year. The way he’d just slid right back into the old persona tore at Stiles’ heart. 

Stiles found himself moving, kneeling between Derek’s legs before he really had a chance to think about it. He took Derek’s hands in his and looked up at Derek, but Derek still failed to meet his eyes.

“Derek. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I didn’t mean to force you into this.” Stiles tried to keep his voice calm and level, to keep any pleading out of it. “It’s not the end of the world, even though I know it sucks for you. If I’d looked for another solution, waited a little longer, maybe I could have found another way to get to you. I wasn’t sure how long you could hold out and I just went with the first thing we found that I thought would work.” 

“Stiles,” Derek huffed, still not meeting his eyes, “You don’t need to apologize. It’s my fault. If I’d tried to work with pack bonds before, if I’d kept them healthy and used them to strengthen the pack, Scott or Erica could have found me with very little effort.” 

Stiles felt anger rise in him, was standing up and pulling back from Derek as he spoke, “Your fault? God, you really are a fucking martyr, aren’t you. You didn’t ask for this bond, or for the Alpha’s to kidnap you.” Derek finally looked up at Stiles, and their gazes locked. The hard line of Derek’s grim face, the pain and anger in his eyes, broke Stiles even more. Derek took a deep breath, like he was going to speak again, but then he just let it out in a sigh, and dropped his gaze again. Stiles forced himself to take another deep breath himself, to let the anger and frustration seep out of him. Then he resumed his spot between Derek’s legs, forcing himself into Derek’s line of sight.

“I need to talk, and you’ve fallen into your silent routine, so here’s the deal. Let me finish. No interruptions.” Stiles waited for Derek’s minute nod before barreling on. “Look, the mate bond thing, I know it's not something you asked for. I am so sorry I couldn’t find another way to save you, but I’m so happy that you are safe. That you are here and healthy. I am sorry I haven’t been able to find a way to break the bond that doesn’t result in my dying. I’m not sorry that I’m not willing to die. My death would kill my dad, and I’m sort of attached to life. I don’t think being stuck together is a fate worse than death. I understand that you are getting the raw end of the deal here. Since I’m not a wolf, I’m going to feel the mate bond differently than you. I know I’m probably not what you had in mind when you pictured a life partner. There is nothing in this bond that says we have to be more than close bros, other than the initial ceremony. So if you want this bond to be just a bond, not a mate bond, and the magic will let us get away with that, I’m game to try it.” Stiles paused to take another deep breath.

“Stiles-,” Derek started.

“No. Not done yet,” Stiles spoke over him, taking Derek’s hands in his again. “I had to dig pretty deep to build that bond. I had to really look at my life and how I feel about you. I know I’m gangly teenager with slightly out of control magic. I know I can’t bear you pups.” He couldn’t help but smirk as he said pups. “And I’m not some sort of trophy husband who would bring great favor or alliances to your pack. I know I annoy you, and that, especially compared to the rest of the pack, I’m nothing to look at. But I think we’re friends, and I think we can work this out. I guess I’m trying to tell you that I’m game for this, whatever this is, however you’ll take me.”

“Stiles?” Derek repeated, but for once it sounded more like a question than a statement. He finally met Stiles' eyes again.

“Right here, man. I’ll always be right here for you. I’ve got your back.” Stiles gave Derek’s hands a reassuring squeeze, “I really didn’t mean to trap you. I forced you into this, into being stuck with me.”

“Is that why you’ve been so upset? Ever since this bond started, all I’ve gotten from you is anxiety, panic, worry, and sadness...” Derek paused, “Nothing good.” 

“I’ve just been trying to figure out a way to let you go, to let you be happy.” This time it was Stiles who dropped his gaze, tilting his head to the side, exposing his neck. Derek leaned in, placed his teeth on the exposed flesh, lightly nipped at it. 

“What if I’m happy with you?” Derek mumbled into Stiles’ skin.

“Could you be?” Stiles pulled back needing to see the expression on Derek’s face. He could feel hope blooming in his chest. Derek didn’t reply though, just took advantage of the shift in positions to lean into Stiles to place a chaste kiss against his lips. Stiles wanted to say more, but as his lips parted, Derek slipped in, filling the open space. The kiss became something hot and wet, something full of promise and lust. Stiles brought his hands up, running them along Derek’s arms up to his neck. He threaded his fingers into Derek’s silky hair, he was suddenly filled with the need to have Derek closer, to be near him forever. Stiles let himself be filled with the love he felt for Derek, and then he fed it down the bond, expressing with the bond things he had not yet found the courage to speak. Derek jerked back suddenly, gasping. Stiles scrambled back, afraid of what he’d done to cause such a reaction. 

“No, wait,” Derek managed, his hand snagging Stiles as he pulled back. Derek rose, tugging Stiles close against his body. He wrapped himself around Stiles, tucking his head into Stiles’ neck, breathing him in. Stiles leaned into Derek, wrapping his arms around Derek in return, soothing the older man. Stiles slid one hand under Derek’s shirt, enjoying the feel of warm skin. They stood there, with their bodies pressed close, and minutes tick by unnoticed. Eventually, Stiles’ mind began to wander, insecurities creeping back in.

“Derek, I sort of need to know what is going through your head at some point. The mate bond only works one way right now, and pack bonds aren’t cutting it here,” Stiles finally mumbled against Derek’s skin. Derek pulled back, and as Stiles took in Derek’s expression, his knees went a little weak. Derek’s eyes were wet, as if he’d shed a tear or two, but it wasn't sadness that was reflected in his eyes, it was joy. Stiles had never seen Derek look so open, so raw, and yet so happy. It lanced through Stiles, the breadth and depth of emotion he could see in Derek, and he found himself falling just that much more in love with him.

“I want this,” Stiles said, softly kissing Derek in an open mouthed, wet kiss. Stiles pulled back, mumbled against Derek’s lips, “I want us.”


	13. Chapter 13

“This is where we’d come, when possible, for important events.” Derek gestured around the forest. Someone, a long time ago, had planted trees in a perfect circle. They’d grown tall over the years, forming a protective ring between this place and the rest of the world. The woods were alive with nocturnal sounds outside of the ring, gentle forest sounds drifting about on a soft summer breeze. 

Stiles had been very confused when Derek had abruptly stopped with the making out and practically dragged Stiles out into the forest. One second they’d been getting pretty hot and heavy, and then Stiles had felt a strange tug on the bond that connected him to Derek. Something new, odd, but welcome, coming back along it. Next thing he knew, Derek had jerked back like he’d been burned. 

And now Stiles was enjoying the way the moonlight played across Derek’s naked chest. Because Derek was stripping off his shirt.

“We’re getting naked now?” Stiles eeped. 

Derek paused, his hands on the button to his own jeans. “Um. We don’t have to. Hale family tradition would be you, me, and the moon.” Derek had seemed confident, like he'd known exactly what was going to happen, but now he suddenly looked unsure. 

“Can you, eh, just tell me what to expect?” Stiles shuffled his feet nervously, it had all seemed so natural in the comfort of his room.

“The bond; it wants to form. I want to complete it. It was starting to connect me to you, the way you’re connected to me already. But I wanted to do it here.” Derek huffed, “This is dumb, we can do this anywhere. I didn’t mean to make it...” he trailed off and gestured with his hand.

“No. Here’s good. I just need to know what needs to happen to complete the bond. And to make sure it’s okay, to do this now, I mean, before the moon is totally full.” Stiles moved to Derek, took Derek’s hand in his.

“The full moon’s the deadline. Any night where the moon is out works fine. Basically we just do what we were doing. Ideally, mutual pleasure, and our feelings toward one another will trigger the completion of the bond. You’ll be able to feel me the way I feel you. I’ll stop sucking energy from you, and we can work it from there.” 

“So we get naked, make out on a picnic blanket under the moonlight in the circle of trees out on the Hale property, and Boom! Werewolf husbands?” At Derek’s nod Stiles continued, “So there’s not like, some sort of specific act we have to do or anything?”

“Stiles.” Derek rolled his eyes, “No.” And then Derek was pulling him closer, tugging at his shirt, “Can I?” 

“Yes. Oh my god, yes. Operation naked in the moonlight is a total go,” Stiles replied, and began hastily attempting to remove his shirt. While his arms were tangled in the shirt, he felt Derek’s fingers at the front of his jeans, thumbing the button open, tugging his zipper down. Stiles finally wrestled himself free of his shirt, and then stepped back from Derek.

“You, too. I want to see you,” Stiles encouraged as he hooked his thumbs into the waist of his jeans. Derek half smirked as he followed Stiles’ lead, shucking off the rest of his clothes with careless grace. Stiles averted his eyes and screwed up his courage, struck by a sudden bout of shyness. Stiles had never stripped down with the intent of getting close to someone before, and compared to Derek, Stiles was feeling just a touch inferior. He stepped out of his jeans, and then took a fortifying breath, before raising his gaze to Derek’s. Derek stared back, and the look of longing, of love, in his eyes gave Stiles new confidence. 

Derek stood before Stiles, his perfectly sculpted body on display for Stiles to enjoy in all it’s glory. Derek’s cock was jutting out, uncut, hard, and flawless. Derek stepped back into Stiles’ space, pulling him close. Stiles gasped as their bodies rubbed together for the first time, savoring the feeling of his cock coming in contact with Derek’s chiseled abs, brushing against the hard length of Derek. Their lips met, passion sparking between them as Derek’s tongue delved into Stiles’ mouth. Then Derek pulled back, nuzzled at Stiles’ neck.

“Stiles, I can feel you, feel your pleasure, and it’s decadent, it feeds into my own. It’s amazing.” Derek’s teeth grazed Stiles’ neck, sending shivers of pleasure down his body. Goosebumps sprung up along his arms as Stiles trembled under Derek’s mouth. “You’re amazing, Stiles. I can’t believe we’re here, together.” Derek began placing kisses down Stiles’ body, moving slowly down Stiles' chest and abs until he gently knelt, Stiles' cock directly in front of his face. The reality of Derek on his knees for Stiles, nuzzling at Stiles, was almost too much. He tipped his head back, closing his eyes as a groan of pleasure escaped him. 

“It’s been awhile since I last did this,” Derek admitted. Stiles forced himself to look down at Derek, but Derek’s eyes were locked on Stiles’ cock. He ran his hands softly down Stiles' body, finally resting them on Stiles' hips. Derek licked his lips hungrily and then moved forward to lick delicately at the purpling head. 

“Oh my god,” Stiles gasped as Derek’s fingers dug into his sides and he was jerked forward. Stiles' knees went weak and his eyes rolled upward as the warmth of Derek’s mouth engulfed his length. Derek’s tongue caressed and licked as Derek sucked, and the pleasure moved up Stiles like electricity, overflowing his body and striking back down the bond into Derek. A wave of satisfaction rebounded back up the bond, both of them moaned in unison. The pleasure became too much, and Stiles lost the ability to stand on his own. Derek seemed to know, and he guided Stiles down onto the waiting blanket. 

Derek nuzzled at Stiles crotch one more time, before moving back up to kiss Stiles, lining their cocks up next to one another. He reached down and wrapped one hand around both of them, his salvia serving as lubricant to the most amazing hand job Stiles had ever received. He could feel Derek’s pleasure echoing his own up through the bond, feel the bond weaving itself whole between them. Stiles added his hand to Derek’s, wrapping his long fingers around their cocks, enjoying the velvety smooth skin, the way Derek’s cock felt heavy in his hand. The pleasure built between them, a familiar pressure enhanced and sharpened by the presence of another. Stiles gave into his orgasm, an explosion of overwhelming pleasure that topped anything he’d ever felt before. The bond took his pleasure, and it reverberated with Derek’s own, the bond snapping into place, the puzzle completing itself as Derek came, spurting all over the two of them, mixing their come between them. 

“Oh fuck,” Stiles managed to gasp out as Derek collapsed next to him, pulling Stiles close and tangling their limbs together.

“Next time,” Derek whispered as he nibbled at Stiles' neck. Stiles felt a pulse of want come up the bond from Derek. He paused, feeling the bond between them, tugging on it. Derek groaned in response. 

“Even werewolves have refractory periods,” Derek huffed as he relaxed into Stiles. Stiles giggled and cuddled against his mate under the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! 
> 
> Want more in this series? Leave a comment and tell me what you'd like to see. This fic was written in part because so many people read "Some Nights I Call it a Draw" and asked how Derek and Stiles had developed into the relationship they had in that fic. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this! :)


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